Not far from the Bronx, is the area known as Westchester. An affluent neighborhood, this area is home to shopping and restaurants.

+local is available.

Pizza! The food of the gods! Or at least, well, of teenagers or people who eat like teenagers.

In this case, it's Rosarios, and it's a Chicago-style place…so by pies, they mean crust with a ton of cheese and meat on top of it where each slice is a good sized meal. For Lexi, it's kinda dinner. But she does like company, so she invited Kitty to meet her and has claimed an outside table on the patio, taking advantage of the spring warmth starting to take hold on the area.

She's ordered one for herself and one for Kitty…which she'll probably eat half of as well, but it's gooooood pizza. Still, plenty left over, theoretically.

Kitty, of course, had been out shopping. It's a curious thing, her shopping bags. One bag is from a nearby tech-savvy store that sells high-end computer components and parts for those who both have a budget as well as the knowledge to work on them. And then her other bag, which is from one of the more affluent trendy stores, and the weight of the bag suggests, yes, Lexi, Kitty has a new pair of boots. But, of course, she's not wearing them NOW because sloshy, icky, sloshy New York Weather. She finger-waggles at Lexi, and moves to snag a chair with her very-curiously-colored-friend. "Wait until you see the new boots I got," she leads with, positively beaming. "And got the last parts for my project, too, for my computer engineering class. I'm so going to kick everyone's ass."

%rNot far from the restaurant, just across the street, in fact, a gaggle of children and their parents are centered around something. Possibly somebody. In fact, that something is an otter, bright green, standing on a fence post and singing.

"But green is the color of spring!

And green can be cool… and friendly-like.

And green can be big… like the ocean!

Or important… like a mountain!
Or tall like a tree…"

The children are oohing and ahhing, though a good number of the parents look dubious. The otter, however, seems pretty harmless.

"Lexi grins a bit, the mauve mutant leaning forward in her chair. "Are they fuzzy? It's gonna be too warm for 'em soon if so.." she says sipping from her drink.

"Lexi grins a bit, the mauve mutant leaning forward in her chair. "Are they fuzzy? It's gonna be too warm for 'em soon if so.." she says sipping from her drink. "I ordered, pizza should be comin' out pretty soon. Is that th' computer build ya were talkin' about?" She's distracted slightly as she notices the otter. "…th' hell?" she says uncertainly. "Is that a talkin' otter singin' It's Not Easy Bein' Green?"

Kitty looks over to wear Lexi is looking. She has, in her time, seen much odder things than a singing otter, of course. But that doesn't make the fact there is a singing otter to be a thing that is Most Curious. She squints, tilts her head, "Yep. That is a singing otter. A -green- singing otter, no less. In New York. In winter." Her mouth twists into a grin, as she adds, "No, they're not fuzzy. They're suede." At least they don't use otters to make boots, right?

Kitty continues to watch the otter, the kids and parents. All seems to be going well enough. She ventures, "You didn't order me anything weird, did you? Bananas and pickles, or something, just so you could eat it all?" Because maybe one time, a long, long time ago, Lexi may have done something like that to Kitty. And Kitty, as a matter of being a good friend, has never let Lexi forget it.

Otters are mostly used for very expensive coats. This particular otter has better defenses than most of his ilk, granted.

"When green is all there is to be…
It could make you wonder why
But why wonder? Why wonder?
I am green. And it'll do fine.
It's beautiful!
And it's what I want to be…"

The otter's singing fades out, and he takes a small bow as the children applaud, and a few parents as well. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Gar Logan, and I won't be here all week, but I hope you enjoyed the show!" he exclaims, and in a blink the otter is a pelican. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I see somebody whose acquaintance I must make. Have a wonderful evening!" The pelican flaps into the sky, and the children shout and call for more, while one parent calls 'Encore!'

But the bird doesn't go far, only flapping across the street to land on the back of a chair at Lexi and Kitty's table.

"Sorry to interrupt, ladies," he says cheerfully. "I just felt obligated to come over and ask…" His beak points toward Lexi. "Are you aware that you're purple?"

Lexi says distractedly "I keep tellin' ya, if ya just widen yer pizza horizons, you'd find all sortsa things go great onna pie!" She leans back and blinks golden-pupiled eyes at the new guest as he lands, then grins a bit. "Mauve, technically." she points out. "More a pinkish purple. Green is pretty neat too. I mean, assuming yer not just green for th' song." she adds.

"We tried dying her to white, but," Kitty pokes at Lexi's arm, "She's a little to stubborn," by way of conversation. Then, she asks the pelican perching on their table, "Did you know that it's illegal for animals to be in a food place? Also, it's illegal to share pizza with a pelican. Section 24 G," Kitty makes up on the spot, with a very convincing face.

%r"Green inside and out, every day of my life," the bird replies. "Well, since I was four or so, anyway. Pleasure to meet a fellow differently colored type!" He extends a wing toward Lexi in what might be construed as an offer to shake. "Garfield Logan, pelican at large. Currently. Call me Gar."

To Kitty he replies, "Happily, I'm not inside! We're outside! See?" His other wing points skyward. "And anyway, it's hard to keep birds away from places. But thank you for your consideration, regarding pizza. That much is easily fixed." He steps off the back of the chair and shifts to human form as he falls, landing with one hand extended toward Lexi, the other still skyward.

The silver-haired mutant laughs and takes the offered hand. "A shapeshifter, huh? Pretty cool…singin' for yer supper out here or something?" she wonders curiously. "I'm Lexi. This is Kitty." She adds dryly. "Of the three of us, it feels like she should be th' shapeshifter, really, by name alone."

Kitty's been around long enough she'd suspected as much, but still, she smiles over at Gar, smiling wide. "Pleased to meet you Gar. Sorry, no shapeshifting, here. I'm just a college student, working on my physics and computer science degrees. Pretty boring, really," she says with an air that contradicts pretty much everything she's saying. Of course, she looks humored about the whole affair.

"Well hey, my first name is a cat, too!" Gar exclaims. "Fellow cat-named person, it's a pleasure to meet you, too." He offers his hand to Kitty in turn. "Honestly, I just saw some kids and decided to be amusing for a few minutes," he explains, free hand gesticulating back toward the spot where he'd been singing. "How often are they gonna get to see an otter sing?"

"True…" Lexi agrees. "I'm also a college student, just workin' on my degree." Advanced PhD degree in her case, but she doesn't usually bring that up. "Nothing too special 'bout me, yup." she says with good humor. "I think ya made a lotta friends there, yeah. Always good to leave 'em with good memories, right?"

"At least, not a live singing otter," agrees Kitty with a small laugh. "You're a good guy, Gar. Want to share some pizza? Least we can do for a fellow friend. Of course, Lexi ordered it, so who knows what toppings we'll get." It's unlikely that such is vegetarian? But, could be.

"So you do anything else besides run around, and helping kids not fear mutants and metas by singing them fantastic songs?"

"I'll take pizza," agrees Gar, "but I insist on paying my fair share." He's not a vegetarian — not in this incarnation at any rate. Sure, he's got animal aspects, but that doesn't stop the lion from eating the gazelle. "I'm an actor," he continues, "but seeing as I always get typecast as the alien shapeshifter, I'm taking a hiatus to work on other projects. I'm not a mutant, though." He looks slightly apologetic at this. "Sorry. Didn't mean to give that impression, but hey, if it makes those kids feel more kindly toward mutants down the road, I'm not going to object."

"Eh, I'll forgive you." Lexi notes cheerfully. No reason she needs to out Kitty, after all, but it's kinda hard to hide what she is, and she's not that interested in doing so anyway. The pizzas, at that point, arrive. One is relatively simple…pepperoni, italian sausage, and onions. The other is a Roadrunner pizza. Which means it includes reen chili. Also Pepperoni, Mushroom, Bacon, Green Pepper, Onion, Olives

"Eh, I'll forgive you." Lexi notes cheerfully. No reason she needs to out Kitty, after all, but it's kinda hard to hide what she is, and she's not that interested in doing so anyway. The pizzas, at that point, arrive. One is relatively simple…pepperoni, italian sausage, and onions. The other is a Roadrunner pizza. Which means it includes reen chili. Also Pepperoni, Mushroom, Bacon, Green Pepper, and Onions. So basically, spicy as hell, but it does have a ton of cheese to balance all the ingredients, somewhat. "See! That's not so bad. Roadrunner. It's actually a type of pizza that's normal!"

"Help yourself," Kitty gestures, freely. She shrugs, half smiles, "There's a lot of us around and in New York," she ventures casually. "Hell, there's even a section of the city called Mutant Town. Not the greatest of places," she laments, with a momentary frown as she helps herself to a slice of each kind of pizza. "Haven't seen you around, you new here?"

Gar examines both pizzas briefly, selects a slice of the simpler one and sets it on a napkin. "Thank you," he says as he casually picks onion slices off the pizza. "I just flew in from LA a few days ago. My arms are still tired." Old joke, but it fits. "I've been in the city pretty often, though. I know Mutant Town. I haven't spent a lot of time there or anything, but…" Here he shrugs. Any heavily minority area tends to be less well appointed than the city as a whole. In any city.

"It's an acquired taste for some." Lexi says absently, stacking three pieces of pizza on her plate…the Roadrunner one, of course, before she takes a big bite out of the top one. "Mmmm…so yer just takin' a vacation? Or are ya lookin' ta settle 'round here? Or maybe get on Broadway?" she says curiously.

"Lexi and I both live around here, we go to the same school." And have, but she leaves that part out for now - not necessarily out of need for secrecy, but it's not something she advertises either. "But, if you plan on being around, I'm sure we'll run into each other again, probably soon." She smiles warmly at that.

"Honestly, I figure at the moment I can do more good in the hero game than as an actor. I've got money. I can take some time hanging out and stopping muggers or whatever. And, I mean, New York seems the city to do that — sure, there's more crime in Washington or New Orleans, but I'm sure they've got their own heroes. This is the place to network, right?" He returns Kitty's smile. "I'll be around plenty. I'm not going to turn down parts if they come my way… but they've got to be good parts. Not 'Alien Monkey No. 3.'"

The silver-haired mutant giggles as she shakes her head, chewing and swallowing her bite of pizza. "Mmmm, I can see how ya'd get typecast, yeah. Ya could probably do a pretty badass Frankenstein, wouldnt' need th' green makeup though." she teases a bit, before taking another bite, tilting her head at the idea of being a vigilante hero. NOooope. She wouldnt' know ANYTHING about of this. Definitely not. Nope!

Kitty affects a disappointed face, and voice, and exhales, "But Alien Monkey Number Three is the -best- Alien Monkey," she complains, exasperatedly. She chews a bit of pizza then, "Well, Gar, I wish you all the best." Then, she's packing up a 'to go' box, and piling another piece of each kind of pizza in it. "Sorry to eat and run, but I do have to get working on my project. Got to build it, and code it, and make sure all the bugs are worked out. And, have to make sure it's the best project in my class. So. No rest for the wicked," she says. But she seems to bear a rather cheerfull attitude about it. Imagine. Enjoying schoolwork! At least, when it comes to computers, and Kitty.